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"When you come to my bed, you will be sure you want to be there"

He'd said when, not if, but she wasn't going to chastise his arrogance She was ready to go now Even knowing it was probably emotional suicide, only the fear that she would balk at the final gate kept her fro so

Sebastian stood below the ice-cold shower and cursed his own stupidity He didn't knohich was duet so worked up sexually, or not tak­ing advantage of Rachel's obvious willingness

Why the hell had he insisted on her staying in the first place?

Compulsion

She'd said it, but the as his His desire for Rachel Long was a co to have her, but it washim and that bothered him

Sex he could handle

Emotion, the kind found between a man and a woman, had no place in his life

CHAPTER FOUR

The next three days were sheer paradise for Rachel

She and Sebastian spent thethe island He even took her fishing and laughed when she refused to bait the

hook, but still ed to catch s were reserved for work Then they ate dinner together and spenttheir separate beds

They kept strictly away froreat-uncle, which ether It also meant she didn't tell him about what happened when she was sixteen

She wondered if she should, but the ether, the ing in sexual inti­macy with him She didn't really want to talk about that dark time, so she made no effort to break the unspokenthe past

Phillippa called the first day and upon learning that Rachel was still on the island, insisted on speaking to her After that, they spoke each afternoon Rachel re­ally enjoyed her chats with Sebastian's mother Phillippa treated Rachel like a valued friend, almost like a member of the family and she liked that

At some point, she would have to return to work, but she couldn'tSebastian and the relationship growing between them

On the fourthafter Phillippa left, Sebastian came to the breakfast table, his jaw taut and his eyes reflecting tension

"What's the matter?" she asked after he leaned over to kiss her square on the mouth

He did that a lot Kissing her, but he never pushed for more and while part of her appreciated his re­straint, she couldn't help wondering the why of it

"I have business in Athens and must fly out to­day"

Her heart sank "I see I guess I'd better look into that flight home"

His rim line, he asked, "Is that what you want?"

"I should get back to California I don't kno long they'll hold my job open"

' 'You have only been in Greece for a week Surely a family bereavement justifies more time away than that"

"There's no point inon the island alone I've finished all I needed to do"

"You could come to Athens with me"

The words dropped like stones into the silence around the her to take another step forward in their re­lationship Athens meant real life and he wanted to take her into it with him

He said nothing, his expression as blank as an unendorsed check

Her head told her to ignore the seductive attraction of such an invitation and get out while part of her heart was intact, but her heart told her it already be­longed to the powerful o for it

She'd been ruled by her head all of her life and while she had a lifestyle far re her mother's to show for it, she was also lonely She'd wanted Sebastian for as long as she'd known hi about it stared her in the face